Caring for Pupils, Promoting Success

The Waterstones Chidlren's Book Prize 2017

“Why don’t you play in the garden?” says Nora’s grandma. “I thought I saw a tiger in there earlier.”

There can be few picture books which climax with a philosophical debate on existence between a backyard tiger and a dubious little girl, but this is exactly what Lizzy Stewart’s frankly brilliant There’s a Tiger in the Garden manages to pull off. As our Category Winner for Illustrated Books, Stewart’s vibrant, immersive illustrations pull us straight into the make-believe world of Nora (accompanied by her toy giraffe Jeff) and her garden-bound exploration of her grandma’s seemingly unbelievable promises.

Younger Fiction Category and Overall Winner

‘I picked up the reed quill and, closing my eyes, retraced my journey behind my eyelids. The night sky danced on them, the stars fixing their positions. I opened my eyes and began to draw.

Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a significant new talent. Her debut, The Girl of Ink and Stars, is a fantasy achieved with such impassioned assurance that she emerged as the natural victor of both the Younger Fiction category and as our Overall Winner.

The disappearance of her closest friend compels Isabella to journey into the monster-filled interior of Joya, the land her father had mapped long ago. As a cartographer’s daughter, Isabella is uniquely-placed to navigate its forgotten realms, burning with the loyal need to find her friend who means so much. As she and the search party she guides worm ever deeper into the unknown, Isabella will be forced to draw on courage of the purest kind as she is forced to confront forces of dark and demonic power.